This will enable people to access ESPN just about any way imaginable. ESPN+, as a separate service within the app, would offer 10,000 more live events including MLB, NHL, MLS, tennis Grand Slams and college sports for an additional cost.

Besides an update on the $52.4 billion deal for much of Fox, analysts on a conference call with CEO Bob Iger scheduled for later Monday will look for intelligence on ESPN, given declining National Football League ratings and falling subscribers at the juggernaut sports cable network.

ESPN Plus will debut in the spring and be available on Android, iOS, and Chromecast devices. Overall revenue was up 4 percent to $15.4 billion, $100 million shy of the $15.5 billion expected by Thomson Reuters. The company posted diluted GAAP earnings of $2.91 per share, up a strong 88% y-o-y, largely driven by the lower federal tax rate in fiscal 2018.

Iger said little during the earnings call about Disney's announced acquisition of 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets beyond the fact that the companies are working through the regulatory process.

Increased attendance was seen at global parks, with Shanghai Disney Resort receiving between 65,000 and 68,000 visitors on one day in October, Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a conference call with investors. And it will feature our new ESPN Plus subscription service.

Revenue at the media networks segment, which includes ESPN and its broadcast sibling ABC, was flat at $6.24 billion. Segment operating income increased by 21% to USA $1.3 billion on the strength of increases at the company's domestic parks and resorts, cruise line and vacation club businesses, as well as at Disneyland Paris. The company's Cable Networks unit, which ESPN accounts for a large portion of, did climb 1% year-over-year, but operating income fell 1%, thanks in part to declines at ESPN.

All this is before having to cope with other TV stations in decline - including the cable networks it'll get from Fox. The announcement comes after another disappointing quarter for ESPN, with decreased ad revenue and higher programming costs compared to the prior year.